STRYPER - THE COVERING

A new Stryper album is due out any minute. The Covering, the title of this latest offering of metallic hard rock is an assemblage of songs that were amongst the most important in the musical development of Mike, Robert, Oz and Tim. According to Mike this is the first album they’ve recorded with Tim since 1990’s Against the Law.

The songs are like a who’s who of classic hard rock and heavy metal acts of the 1970’s and early 1980’s. It would seem that this is an album that Stryper can really let their hair down and just flat out ROCK! Not having to write the material but just arrange and perform it, this album breathes with energy and vitality. The guys sound like they’re having a great time playing these songs.

Opening with a version of Sweet’s Set Me Free this horse is off to the races. The pedal is put to the floor and the nitro is kicked in; how can you listen to this song and not start the proverbial air guitar action???? UFO’s Lights Out is a tour de force of solid driving rock n roll, the influence on More Than a Man is not just passing. The guitar solos rip it up one side and down the other.

I’ve always enjoyed Deep Purple’s Highway Star, but this version is a tisch faster and Mike cuts loose like no one’s business. Why he hasn’t received more attention for his vocal ability in the metal community is a crying shame. Robert’s drumming propels this version and does Ian Paice proud. Kiss’s Shout It Out Loud locks a groove and the guitars take over. Tim delivers some choice bass work holding it under locked.

Black Sabbath’s Heaven and Hell, Ozzy’s Over the Mountain, Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song, Scorpions Blackout, Kansas’s Carry on Wayward Son, all shine with some great performances. Their version of Iron Maiden’s The Trooper was creative with the middle section solo, one of the few times they really expanded the original compositions and made it their own. Perhaps making a harmony out of Sabbath’s Heaven and Hell solo section would have been fitting, yet Oz’s solo is stellar regardless.

A few moments found me wanting particularly with a slower sounding version of Judas Priests Breaking the Law. At times I felt that the version of Blackout suffered a little from the tempo. Yet in contrast their version of Van Halen’s On Fire (perhaps my favorite song from their 1978 debut) ranks on par with the original. Passion, drive and power define this version, can I just keep hitting the replay button!

The overall sound of the album reminds me of a beefier and cleaner Soldiers Under Command. Great sounding tones are achieved and are given their opportunity to breathe and develop. No tight sounding compression that squashes the dynamics and leaves everything flattened. It sounds fantastic.

There is one new track. Entitled God, it does feature a heavy and haunting melody line. A powerful chorus which will prove to be a show stopper from Mike. The solo section is strong with a fantastic guitar harmony courtesy of Oz and Mike. If this is a preview of their next full length album of original material watch out.

Some may want to wallow in unfounded criticism of the ‘apparent lack of spiritual content.’ May I just say how ridiculous that is, the amount of festivals, celebrations and feasts given in Scripture are many. This album is about THE PARTY! THE CELEBRATION! And having some fun.

The Covering is an exceptional release of material that influenced Stryper before they were Stryper. If it wasn’t for this stuff there might not be a Stryper. Solid performances and production throughout, The Covering should be a solid addition to any Stryper fan’s collection. I wasn’t sure at first how I’d respond to this, but after five spins its double thumbs up from here.

8 axes

LIBERTY N JUSTICE - CHASING THE CURE EP

Super group Liberty N Justice has put out a classy EP just in time for the holiday season. Not only is this ep full of solid hard rock perfection, but the end result will benefit the ongoing medical research of Epilepsy. The title is Chasing the Cure which is

All the proceeds will go The Epilepsy Foundation and their ongoing research to develop a cure for this awful disease. This hits close to home for Justin Murr songwriter and bass player for LNJ as his own daughter suffers from this disease.

Justin and Vic Rivera have crafted a stellar production of great melodic rock n roll, not unlike Night Ranger, Foreigner or Giant. This five song affair features the world class talents of Paul Shortino of Rough Cutt/Quiet Riot/King Kobra, Ron Keel of Keel, and Eddie Ojeda of Twisted Sister, Donnie Vie of Enuff Z' Nuff and JK Northrup, Philip Bardowell of MAGDALEN/Unruly Child/The Beach Boys and Tony Palacios of Guardian, Terry Ilous of XYZ, Jeff Paris and Richard Kendrick of Near Life Experience, Benny Mardones, John Pine and Bill Leverty of Firehouse.

The quality of musicianship itself should convince you to pick this up. It’s only available as a download, there will be no CD available to keep the overhead low, and this will allow the Epilepsy Foundation to gain as much financial reward as possible. The suggested donation for this album is $7.50. If you click on the title of this review you'll go to Liberty N Justice's site.

Even if this release wasn’t attached to the Epilepsy foundation it would be worth your hard earned cash. It really is a great release full of memorable songs that’ll get you singing along right away.

8 axe review.

LINE OF FIRE - MOMENTUM

Line of Fire’s latest release entitled Momentum, is nothing short of sheer melodic rock genius. Glorious vocal harmonies and hooks that slice to the bone while embedding themselves deep in your psyche. Top drawer production seals the deal; a strong demanding urge to play it at full volume to share with others is the last item on the agenda.

Shawn Pelata clearly shows that he has one of the finest voices currently in the melodic rock arena. Vocally Shawn’s strength, grit and depth provide the power to cut across the finely tuned instrumentation underneath. The vocal harmonizations are top drawer excursions into musical bliss, reminiscent of Boston, these exploits are just not heard with the same quality in today’s musical environment. Some may quip ‘What about Stryper?’ perhaps, but their harmonies are clean and shiny. The vocal lines here have more balls, determination and strength.

Musically the band itself provides the appropriate counter balance to Shawn’s vocal grit and angst. The songs themselves are musical passages, which simply cannot be ignored. Wonderful arranging and instrumental interplay through out this album deliver these infectious bits of whimsy to the listener with ease. Hitting replay on your player will be easier than anything else you’ve done this summer.

Nikki Damage and Ed Darst show what it means to play tastefully with each other. Both men provide some exceptionally high brow guitar playing; they don’t over do it but seem to know instinctively where to place their parts in the songs.

The lyrics throughout this album continually provide a positive and message to keep fighting through life. Even when the chips are down, and in some cases gone, these messages of encouragement and words of empathy are delivered to the listener with a strong sense of camaraderie. These guys have all been in some of the hardest times imaginable and they tell us all ‘We passed through the fire and so can you.’

This is a hard rock record which is destined for long, hot drives and mountain driving. It’s not an album you can only listen to once, that would be a crime. If you love melodic rock n roll such as Boston, Journey or Firehouse this album is a must. Line of Fire breathed life into an art form (melodic hard rock) that was in need of some life. Do yourself a favor and grab this disc sooner rather than later. You’ll be glad you did.


8 axes

LINE OF FIRE - LINE OF FIRE

The debut release by Line of Fire is not to be missed. After a five year hiatus this catalog of melodic rock anthems is now available once again and not a moment too soon. Compositions of encouragement and driving rock n roll shouldn’t be neglected. With a unique timeliness, many of the songs here are simply astounding.

The mass appeal of these melodies is evident from the first listen. Catchy and mesmerizing you’ll find yourself humming along and not even realizing it. This re-release dovetails the release of their new album entitled Momentum.

However as it seems that Momentum took page from the Foreigner catalog, this debut album took a page from the Boston archives. In both cases neither one is a rip off but clearly an homage that says, ‘these bands influenced us but we’re own band.’

A tremendous amount of passion went into the making of this album that much is clear. The crafting of each passage almost feels as if they were composing more than a rock album, but something for a time capsule of their lives. The members of Line of Fire have had a rather trying past five years. Personal tragedy marked each member with its indelible mark.

It is with great empathy that I hope they were able to listen to their own creation, because listening to these songs definitely grant assurance to the listener. Faith in Fire, Salvations Edge are prime examples of ‘hold on till the end’ type songs. As someone who has walked in the valley they've brought me encouragement.

This deluxe edition has two extra tracks which represent different versions of both, Remind Me and Can’t You See. Nice touches on both and essential for the Line of Fire fan.

The bottom line here is that this disc rocks and you’ll have a hard time getting out of your CD player, or changing the folder on your MP3 player. Just hearing Shawn Pelata crank out these sensational vocals will give you chills. Fans of melodic hard rock will want to get this release and get it quickly.


8 axes

CRYSTAVOX - THE 20 YEAR MIX

Our friends at Roxx Records have offered another treat from the past. Crystavox, were a melodic metal band from the Southern California area circa 1988-1991. Bringing elements of Skid Row, The Bulletboys and the attitude of Van Halen, Crystavox were the real deal, however not being content with just putting out the same recording from 20+ years ago, Roxx has given us a completely re-mastered album.

Re-mastering will usually give a chance to breathe a little new life into a release. Perhaps certain audio frequencies were absent or overdone in the original releases. The volume is generally enhanced as well, which will contribute to the overall listening experience of the fans. Yet even more work was done to this special recording,

'These tracks have been completely remastered and totally redone; new guitars, drums and an over-sampling method vastly increasing the mastered volume of each song to today’s standards making for an optimal sound that brings these tracks straight in to the modern day.' Roxx Website


Such is the case with the release of Crystavox – the 20 Year Mix. Eight tracks were taken from their sophomore effort ‘The Bottom Line’ and the remaining four were taken from their self titled debut. They've never sounded this good!

Listening to this album I really think these songs have stood up rather well, especially in comparison to some of the recent releases by Liberty N Justice or Line of Fire. With oodles of energy and swing Crystavox offered a high quality listening experience, no lack of chops here. Quick melodic rockers throughout this 12 song compilation provide a great summer time listening experience.

Break Down the Walls and Stick to Your Guns are my favorite tracks here, lots of energy and melody that will stick to you like glue. The mid tempo’d slice and dice on The 20 Year Mix is rather catchy. However the bands one attempt at a fast more straight metal tune, Paradise, leaves me flat; almost like the song wasn’t finished.

No album from this time period would be complete without a few power ballads, Home Again and No Boundaries fit the bill nicely. Home Again scored a bit of radio play back in the day and Roxx was trying to bring that back again by issuing that as the first single. You can see the lighters going up in unison.

The members of the band have all gone on to other endeavors, but have all thrown their support behind this release. It’s a good thing too, because the quality here is not to be missed. Roxx even included an extremely high quality DVD as well, live footage, interviews and reminiscences by the band. Vocalist Adam Lee Kemp provides some written insights as well, amongst the liner notes.

One item that did elude me is what happened to their bass player? No mention of him in the liners that I could see, yet on the DVD he’s right there. Just a question, not a criticism.

Grab that leather frilled jacket and snake skin boots, big hair is back. If you missed ‘em back in the day pick this one up and see what the excitement was about. For the fans, this release is an absolute must that will delight and engage you, while reminding you about all that was good about Crystavox in the first place.

8 axes

GIANT - PROMISED LAND

It’s amazing to me that throughout the world AOR or Album Oriented Rock continues to thrive and flourish within the musical community. Certainly it doesn’t command the same attention it has in the past but the fan base is still there. The continued presence of websites such as Melodic Rock.Com attests to that. Not to mention the success of tours by Journey and Foreigner in previous years.

So one must ask why can’t music executives in the United States put out this type of stuff instead of more over produced over sexed divas that can’t sing and can’t even write their own material.

The latest album by Giant entitled Promise Land is a testament to perseverance and professionalism. 13 well produced and well executed arena rock treasures provide musical enjoyment for anyone with an appreciation for good song writing. Without worrying about a corporate sponsor as such Giant hasn’t given a flavor of the moment but they continue to do what they do best.

Opening with two exceptionally radio friendly songs in ‘Believer’ and ‘Promised Land’ you realize that talented musicians and composers have put together songs of melody and hope. Continuing this focus throughout the album, they don’t break new ground per se but is that what I buy these albums for? No, I want something I can sing along to and feel good about. Promised Land delivers in a big way.

Dann Huff whose guitar heroics were featured on previous Giant albums doesn’t play here, in favor of John Roth(Winger), yet Huffs songwriting credits are throughout the album so his influence is very much present. His brother David continues to play drums and share producing credit with bass player Mike Brignarndello.

It’s just a shame that such a fine piece of work as this release probably won’t receive all the attention it deserves. For my tastes I usually enjoy the slightly more edgy material I find on albums of this sort, ditties such as ‘Prisoner of Love,’ ‘Two Worlds Collide’ and several others; ‘Complicated Man’ also comes to mind immediately with it’s boogie influenced riff and catchy chorus.

Terry Brock delivers an excellent vocal performance that compliments the musical attack with a smoky whisp of mystery. Continuity of performance is what really makes this disc tick and Terry shines.

Lyrically a Christian view point is presented, not preached or blatantly spoken but it still shines through in the worldview. Very thoughtful and can be internalized by everyone.

Frontier Records of Italy shows that not all hope is lost when it comes to labels putting out new music; it’s just a hope of mine that an American renaissance of this type will hit the music executives in North America. In the mean time don’t miss out on an exceptional release of arena rock excellence.


7 axe